


First Date

by jinap



Category: White Collar
Genre: Character Study, F/M, POV Female Character, Pre-Canon, Pre-Season/Series 01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-02-18 08:53:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21841510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jinap/pseuds/jinap
Summary: Alex goes on her first date after the failed music box heist at the Amalienborg Palace.
Relationships: Neal Caffrey & Alex Hunter, Neal Caffrey/Alex Hunter
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8
Collections: White Collar, White Collar Rewatch





	First Date

It had been a while since she’d been on a date. Not since Neal 10 months ago in New York - and look how that whole mess turned out.

Alex had only gotten out of the hospital a month ago and he hadn’t come to visit even once. She ran her fingers lightly over the scar on her left forearm. It bore the memory of stitches that had only come out a couple of weeks ago. If she pressed down, it would still be sore.

She wasn't nervous exactly. Just... unsettled. Unlike herself. Lonely days in a hospital bed did that to you. The lack of visitors was par for the course, but it still stung.

Alex made eye contact with herself in the mirror. The subtle touches of makeup still looked good, the dress clung everywhere it was supposed to and her hair looked artfully tousled. She took four long breaths: counting to four on the inhale; holding for four; exhaling for four; and holding for four.

Benjamin was waiting for her at the table in the restaurant while she reminisced in the washroom. He was going to wonder what was taking so long. She picked up her clutch, gave an affectionate half smile to mirror-Alex and left.

Benjamin was watching for her. Alex saw him straighten up as she walked towards him and she smiled at him.

They'd met at the beach earlier that day. After some smiles back and forth, he’d ‘accidentally’ tossed his frisbee in her direction. It landed at her feet and gave him and excuse to start a conversation. She needed to someone to talk to, so she went along with it.

He had a British accent and the assurance of a young, good looking man whose only care in the world was how best to spend his parents’ wealth. Late twenties, she guessed, from the mix of confidence and insecure cockiness with which he approached her. Trying just a touch too hard to make her laugh, but sure enough of himself to ask her out without discomfort. A perfect mark.

Alex agreed to his invitation for dinner and surprised herself by not going online to research the origins of his upper-crust accent. He was just another son from a wealthy family who saw a pretty face and wanted to go after it. She was just another criminal recovering from surgery and jail time.

These days Alex didn’t know which parts of her were real and which ones weren’t. For once she wanted to have some fun and go on a real date, one where she wasn’t detachedly sizing up her opponent. Thieves were entitled to time off too, weren't they?

For a moment, she missed Neal. When she first met him, she’d recognized him as a fellow grifter, which paradoxically meant that she could be herself with him. There was no role-playing necessary; no trying to figure out which version of her would work best to charm him. They were equals.

But Ben was the one waiting for her at the table. 

Which mask did she want to wear tonight? Sweet Alex, naive Alex, sultry, competitive, compassionate there-for-him Alex? She stopped herself. Even if she lost interest in Ben and he turned into just another mark, Alex wanted this moment of uncertainty as it was - a dinner date with a cute guy with whom she hoped for enough chemistry to meet up again.

At least she could start the date off as real Alex - as real as she could be with a civilian anyway. Semi-real Alex? She smiled at that. Which Alex would end the date remained to be seen.

“No clowns hiding in the stalls?” Benjamin asked when she sat down, calling back to an earlier joke.

Alex smiled. “Only an alligator in the toilet. Wrestling it was a piece of cake.”

“Smart, beautiful and she fights alligators bare-handed,” Ben put a hand over his heart and sighed in mock admiration. He continued more sincerely. “I’m glad I ran into you on the beach this morning.”

The banter was light, yes, but it was a relief to just indulge in a conversation with no agenda. Benjamin’s attempts at charm weren’t going to set her on fire, but they were enough for an evening of distraction.

She leaned over and picked a slice of bread from the basket on the table, dipping it into the saucer of balsamic vinegar and olive oil. “Tell me when you developed this uncontrollable fetish for alligator wrestlers,” she asked, watching him while she took a bite.

Ben was safe for now.


End file.
